Today in Portland: New Old Lompoc Throws a Holiday Beer Release Party

Lompoc is seriously underrated.

Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza or choose to not partake in religious festivities- you can still drink damn good beer. This holiday season, New Old Lompoc is releasing 8 beers.

The Lompoc brewers have been as busy as elves preparing for the holiday season. This year, they are releasing eight different holiday beers – including two for Hanukkah. Come join Jerry, Dave, Bryan, Zach & Sam at the Lompoc Holiday Beers Release Party today – Tuesday, Nov. 30th – from 4 to 10 pm at the Lompoc Sidebar, located at 3901 N Williams Ave. next to Pix Patisserie.

This year’s offerings include Blitzen Golden Ale, Brewdolph Belgian Style Red, C-Son’s Greetings Imperial IPA , Holiday Cheer Porter, Jolly Bock German Style Bock, Old Tavern Rat Barley Wine, 8 Malty Nights Chocolate Rye, and Bourbon Barrel Aged 8 Malty Nights.

All beers will be on tap at all five Lompoc pubs (New Old Lompoc, Hedge House, Oaks Bottom, Fifth Quadrant and Sidebar) November 30. Two of the beers, C’son’s Greetings and Bourbon Barrel Aged 8 Malty Nights will also be available in 22 ounce bottles – great stocking stuffers!

Also, Lompoc will be pouring a special brew at the Holiday Ale Festival in Portland this Wednesday through Sunday.  If you go, try the Franc’ly Brewdolph, a Belgian style red ale brewed with the Belgian Ardennes yeast strain in October ’09 and aged in Cabernet Franc barrels for 13 months. It was then blended in a tank with the this year’s Brewdolph.  It has a malty and creamy body, a mild fruitiness, and a spicy, oak flavor.

What better gift than the gift of beer? None. Below is the list of beers being released:

Blitzen is a holiday golden ale brewed with figs, cinnamon and nutmeg.  It’s light bodied with fruity and spicy flavors and an aroma reminiscent of bread pudding (4.9% ABV).  Brewdolph Belgian style red ale features a malty and creamy body. Brewed with the Belgian Ardennes yeast strain, it boasts a mild fruitiness and a spicy clove character (7.7% ABV).

C-Son’s Greetings is the big brother to the brewery’s popular C-Note.   It features a rich caramel malty body with an endless developing hop presence from all seven of the “C” hops – Crystal, Cluster, Cascade, Chinook, Centennial, Columbus and Challenger (8% ABV).  Holiday Cheer is a robust vanilla porter that combines big chocolate flavor and a full body with mellow vanilla notes, compliments of whole vanilla beans in the conditioning tank (6.8% ABV).

Jolly Bock is a lager brewed with a generous amount of Munich malt to develop the deep amber color and rich malt flavor. The malty flavor is balanced with a spicy hop bitterness (7.3% ABV).  Old Tavern Rat is a dark amber colored barleywine that was aged for almost a year prior to its release.  The beer’s strong bitterness is balanced with the sweetness of caramel and toffee flavors (9.4% ABV).

Portland’s first Hanukkah seasonal, 8 Malty Nights is a Chocolate Rye that features a roasted chocolate flavor and a sweet finish. It is dark brown in color and lightly hopped with English style hops (6.5% ABV).  Bourbon Barrel Aged 8 Malty Nights was brewed for Hannukah 2009 and aged in bourbon barrels for nine months.  It features a roasted chocolate flavor with hints of bourbon and oak (6.5% ABV).

We’ll also be pouring a special brew at the Holiday Ale Festival this Wednesday through Sunday.  If you go, try our Franc’ly Brewdolph, a Belgian style red ale brewed with the Belgian Ardennes yeast strain in October ’09 and aged in Cabernet Franc barrels for 13 months.  It was then blended in a tank with the this year’s Brewdolph.  It has a malty and creamy body, a mild fruitiness, and a spicy, oak flavor.